You are receiving this email because you are covered by the Cigna health insurance during your European Voluntary Service.

We have noticed an increasing trend of overconsumption and fraudulent behaviour for certain benefits, to such extent that additional measures must be taken and coverage must be clarified.

The EVS insurance plan is designed to provide coverage to volunteers when they need it most, i.e. in case of illness or urgent situations such as accidents.

If you already have a primary insurance, you will be enrolled as complementary insured with Cigna. Your statutory national insurance is not supposed to be cancelled once you are starting your EVS period and you are enrolled with Cigna. Cigna will provide complementary coverage to your primary statutory insurance or national security coverage.

The following procedure changes will be implemented as follows, effective immediately:

European Health Insurance Card

You are required to make use of your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for all medical expenses both in your home and hosting countries, such as:

You should be duly diligent in requesting your EHIC from your local/national health insurance provider well in advance. If the delivery of EHIC is refused for any reason by your local/national health insurance provider, please inform us by email, specifying the refusal reason and adding a copy of the refusal letter issued by the local/national health insurance provider.

Before you leave home country you must have your EHIC or the letter of refusal of your local/national health insurance provider with you. If you are already on voluntary service in the field and do not have your EHIC with you, please take action to obtain this document as soon as possible.

Information on the EHIC is available on the website of the European Union:

Requesting the EHIC

Download the EHIC app for your smartphone

Dental care

In case of sudden dental complaints, the only treatment covered is treatment that is meant to stabilise the dental complaints. Any treatment that can be postponed until after the EVS period will not be covered by the insurance.

Pharmaceutical expenses

Only prescribed generic drugs with active pharmaceutical ingredients are covered, unless, in specific cases, when prescribed brand drugs have a proven medical necessity.

Mandatory prior approval for the following treatments:

Planned hospitalisations

Laboratory and diagnostic tests

X-rays/radiotherapy/chemotherapy

Physiotherapy (as from the first session)

Psychotherapy (as from the first session)

Optical care:

Purchase of replacement eyeglasses or contact lenses will only be reimbursed after prior approval has been requested and granted by Cigna.

Only one replacement of a pair of glasses will be reimbursed for the whole EVS period, and only single vision glasses without treatment, unless already differently prescribed by the ophthalmologist in the home country.

The following supporting documents must be attached to your prior approval request:

In case you lose your eyeglasses/contact lenses, or if they become unusable:

2 cost estimates completed by 2 separate opticians for the same brand/type of frame and lenses.

Please use the Optical cost estimate form and the Declaration of honour you can find on your personal webpages.

In case you need prior approval for an urgent treatment, please call us instead of sending an email. You can reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 a year using the contact details on your Cigna membership card.

Fraud

You will soon receive a separate communication on our anti-fraud plan. Several fraud cases have been investigated and confirmed. As a consequence, Cigna will reach out to fraudsters to recover the unduly received reimbursements and undertake legal action where required.

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